Saints vs. 49ers: Niners Should Expect Another Blitz-Happy Attack from Saints

Despite the fact it was the very first game of the preseason, the New Orleans Saints didn't hold anything back when they played the San Francisco 49ers way back on August 12th. They dialed up the blitzes, and ended up sacking Niners quarterbacks six times.

Did you know that the Saints brought the heat because Jim Harbaugh didn't work out a gentlemen's agreement with Sean Payton? It's true.

Well, OK, it's not actually true.

Believe it or not, it was suggested by Saints play-by-play announcer Jim Henderson back in August that the Saints blitzed against the 49ers because Harbaugh didn't give Payton a courtesy call. 

Naturally, both coaches dispute the notion.

"There is no bad blood," said Payton in a conference call with the Bay Area media, per the San Jose Mercury News. "I had a chance to listen to hear Jim talk about this yesterday. The (August) report was absolutely crazy. To think I was waiting for a phone call…The idea I was offended or he didn’t call is nuts."

Harbaugh wasn't crazy about the idea either: 

"

Don’t know anything about that. You hate to deal with hypotheticals. What somebody might have said and what somebody didn’t say. It really becomes irrelevant. Certainly not aware of any gentleman’s agreement. Even asked my brother. ‘Is there some kind of gentleman’s agreement that you call a coach before a preseason game?’ And he wasn’t aware of any. Even if there was, we wouldn’t do it anyway. We ask no quarter, we give no quarter, and that’s how we approach things.

"

So there you go. A hatchet that never existed has been buried.

This is all well and good, but the 49ers should still get ready to face plenty of blitzes when they host the Saints at Candlestick Park on Saturday. Blitzing is one thing the Saints do very well, and it just so happens that the word is out that the 49ers are vulnerable to blitzes.

We saw as much throughout the course of the regular season, most notably on Thanksgiving against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens brought the heat all night long, sacking Alex Smith a whopping nine times. The Ravens won 16-6.

The Saints will be looking to neutralize Smith in a similar fashion on Saturday. Smith made a lot of improvements in 2011, but he's as vulnerable as any quarterback is against heavy pressure. To make matters worse, Smith had better be prepared for a heavy workload, as he will be tasked with keeping pace with Drew Brees and the Saints offense.

Smith will be relying on his offensive line to pick up on extra pass-rushers, and he's also going to need Frank Gore to keep the Saints honest. If everyone does their jobs, the 49ers stand a pretty good chance of beating the Saints.

Of course, I guess it wouldn't hurt if Jim Harbaugh were to call up Sean Payton and try to arrange some sort of agreement that would make winning the game that much easier.

Somehow, I doubt that's going to happen.